Mattress with air passageways

ABSTRACT

A mattress comprises a foam core having therein a plurality of air passageways extending in different directions and in different levels within the core.

The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. “Rectangular shape” includes square shape.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Mattresses made of foam material, for example, polyurethane foam, are in common use. The foam is porous and resilient, and deforms and is compressed when a users seats or lies on a foam mattress. The mattress, because of the foam material's resiliency, returns to its non-deformed state upon the user arising from the mattress. It would be desirable, however, to improve such a mattress' ability to “breath.” Breathing of the mattress is important because this facilitates conforming to the shape of the body lying on the mattress.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This invention has one or more features as discussed subsequently herein. After reading the following section entitled “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THIS INVENTION,” one will understand how the features of this invention provide its benefits. These benefits include, but are not limited to: improved ability of the mattress to conform to the body of a person lying thereon.

Without limiting the scope of this invention as expressed by the claims that follow, some, but not necessarily all, of its features are:

One, the mattress of this invention includes a foam core with air passageways extending through it. Some air passageways may extend substantially along the entire width of the mattress in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, and other air passageways may extend substantially along the entire length of the mattress in a second substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented.

Two, the core may comprise a plurality of foam layers stacked upon each other. One of the layers may include one side having therein a plurality of parallel grooves therein open at this one side to form air passageways extending in a first direction. Another of the layers may include another side having therein a plurality of parallel grooves therein open at this other side to form air passageways extending in a second direction. The sides of each these layers may face each other so there is direct fluid communication between the air passageways extending in the first direction and the air passageways extending in the second direction.

Three, the air passageways extending in the first direction may be at a first level within the core, and the air passageways extending in the second direction may be at a second level within the core that is beneath the first level when the mattress is horizontally oriented, The air passageways in the first and second levels may be substantially at 90° with respect to each other. The foam core may include at least one connecting air passageway placing at least one of the air passageways in the first level in fluid communication with at least one of the air passageways in the second level.

Four, the mattress of this invention may comprise a body member including first and second sections. The first section may include a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, with these first section air passageways being in a first plane. The second section may be beneath the first section and include a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a second substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, the second direction being substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction and the second section air passageways being in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the first plane. All the air passageways may terminate in opposed open ends.

Five, the body member may have a substantially rectangular shaped perimeter formed of foam members having a predetermined thickness substantially from 1 to 6 inches. These foam members encompass the first and second sections and cover the ends of the air passageways. The body member may include a third exterior section forming a first side of the mattress covering the first section and a fourth exterior section forming a second side of the mattress covering the second section. The third and fourth sections may each have a predetermined thickness substantially from 1 to 10 inches, and may each provide an exterior surface. When the mattress is horizontally oriented and a user lies on one of the surfaces, the mattress is compressed to force air from the passageways and out the passageway ends through the perimeter foam members. The mattress may have a height substantially from 3 to 20 inches, and the first section may have a height substantially from 1 to 10 inches, and the second section may have a height substantially from 1 to 10 inches.

In one embodiment, the mattress is made substantially entirely of foam.

These features are not listed in any rank order nor is this list intended to be exhaustive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Some embodiments of this invention, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. These embodiments depict the novel and non-obvious mattress of this invention as shown in the accompanying drawing, which is for illustrative purposes only. This drawing includes the following figures (Figs.), with like numerals indicating like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the mattress this invention, with sections broken away, wherein the mattress is made from several sheets and numerous small blocks of foam glued together.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mattress shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an alternate configuration of a core of another embodiment of the mattress this invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the core shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THIS INVENTION General

FIGS. 1 through 6 depict one embodiment of this invention, the mattress 10, comprising a central, foam core C1 including within this core air passageways P1 at a level L1 and passageways P2 at level L2. Levels L1 and L2 are substantially parallel, and level L2 comprises substantially parallel sublevels L2 ₁ and L2 ₂. FIGS. 7 and 8 depict another embodiment of this invention, a mattress in which a central, foam core C2 includes multiple foam layers forming air passageways P3 disposed between air passageways P4 ₁ and P4 ₂. Except for the different types of cores employed, the mattress using the core C2 is essentially identical to the mattress 10. In both mattresses there may be fluid communication between at least some of the air passageways in the different levels or layers, as the case may be.

FIGS. 1 through 6

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the mattress 10 is made substantially entirely of a foam such as, for example, polyurethane. The mattress 10 comprises a substantially rectangular shaped body having opposed exterior sides S1 and S2. The dimensions of the mattress 10 may correspond to king, queen, double, and twin size mattresses. Typically, the mattress' width w is from about 39 to about 80 inches, and its length l is from about 72 to about 85 inches, and its height h is from about 3 to about 20 inches.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the internal foam core C1 has a substantially rectangular shape formed from a plurality of foam blocks b1 through b7, four elongated foam strips 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and 14 d that overlie the blocks b1 through b7, and a substantially rectangular, foam cover sheet 16 that overlies the strips 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and 14 d. The rectangular shaped strips 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and 14 d are spaced apart to create the parallel passageways P1 between adjacent strips. As best depicted in FIGS. 2 and 6, between the adjacent tall blocks b1 and b3, b3 and b4, b4 and b5, b5 and b6, and b6 and b7 are, respectively, a series of blocks b2 ₁, b2 ₂, b2 ₃, b2 ₄, and b2 ₅, each individual series including aligned, short, thin, spaced apart blocks A, B, and C. Each of the blocks A, B, and C is spaced from an adjacent short block to create connecting air passageways P5 placing at least some of the air passageways P1 and P2 in fluid communication with each other directly through the air passageways P5, in contrast to indirectly though the foam material.

The foam cover sheet 16 overlies and abuts the top surfaces of the elongated foam strips 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and 14 d. This cover sheet 16 and the tall blocks b1, b3, b4, b5, b6, b7, the series of short blocks b2 ₁, b2 ₂, b2 ₃, b2 ₄, and b2 ₅, and the elongated foam strips 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, and 14 d are glued together to create the core C1, including the passageways P1 and P2, respectively in levels L1 and L2. The passageways P2 are in both of the sublevels L2 ₁ and L2 ₂. The core C1 has a thickness t₁ from about 3 to about 10 inches, which is only a little less than the height h of the mattress 10. The core's C1 width is only a little less (about 1 to 6 about inches) than the width w of the mattress 10, and its length is only a little less (about 1 to about 6 inches) than the length l of the mattress. As discussed subsequently in greater detail, the core's dimensions in most embodiments will be less than the dimensions of the mattress.

In the one level L1 the air passageways P1 are all substantially parallel, all lie in substantially the same plane, all extend along the entire length of the core C1, and all are of substantially equal length. These air passageways P1 extend in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress 10 horizontally oriented. In the other level L2 some of the air passageways P2 extend along upper rows r1 in the sublevel L2 ₁ and others of the air passageways P2 extend along lower rows r2 in the sublevel L2 ₂. All the air passageways P2 are substantially parallel and all extend along the entire width of the core C1, and all are of substantially equal length. The air passageways P2 in the rows r1 lie in substantially the same plane and the air passageways P2 in the rows r2 lie in another plane. All the planes in which the passageways P1 and P2 lie are substantially parallel, and so are these passageways. With the mattress 10 horizontally oriented, the passageways P2 extend in a substantially horizontal direction that is substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction of the passageways P1. All the air passageways P1 and P2 terminate in opposed open ends E1 and E2 at the perimeter of the core C1. The connecting air passageways P5, which are substantially at a right angle with respect to the passageways P1 and P2, allow air to flow directly from the passageway P1 into the air passageways P2 in both sublevels L2 ₁ and L2 ₂.

The core C1 is enclosed by substantially rectangular, foam top and bottom sheets 18 a and 18 b, respectively, and a substantially rectangular frame 20. The thicknesses of the sheets 18 a and 18 b and the frame 20 determine how much less the dimensions of the core C1 are in comparison to the dimensions of the mattress 10. The top and bottom sheets 18 a and 18 b each have a thickness of from about ½ to about 10 inches, and each provide the exterior surfaces S1 and S2, respectively, one of which a user lies upon when the mattress 10 is horizontally oriented. The sheets 18 a and 18 b, the frame 20, and the core C1 are in registration.

The frame 20 comprises four blocks 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, and 20 d, each having a height h₂ that is substantially equal to the thickness t₁ of the core C1. The inside surface of the frame 20 abuts and covers the sides of the core C1, closing the open ends E1 and E2 of the air passageways P1 and P2. This frame 20 provides a substantially rectangular shaped perimeter member PM (FIG. 2) having a uniform predetermined thickness t₂ from about 1 to about 6 inches. Nevertheless, the different blocks 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, and 20 d may each have a different thickness. The width and length of the core C1 is almost the same as the width w and length l of the mattress 10. Consequently, the passageways P1 extend substantially along almost the entire length l of the mattress 10, and the passageways P2 extend substantially along almost the entire width w of the mattress. In this specific embodiment where the mattress 10 has a substantially rectangular shape and the blocks 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, and 20 d have a uniform thickness, the passageways P1 each have a length that is l −2t₂, and the passageways P2 each have a length that is w−2t₂. The sheets 18 a and 18 b and the frame 20 have the same width and length as the mattress 10, and the top and bottom sheets overlap the frame. Upon assembly, the core C1, frame 20, and top and bottom sheets 18 a and 18 b are glued together.

The mattress 10 may be considered as including four sections: (1) a first section with the plurality of parallel air passageways P1 therein in a first plane and extending in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress 10 horizontally oriented, (2) a second section beneath the first section with a plurality of parallel air passageways P2 therein extending in a second substantially horizontal direction with the mattress 10 horizontally oriented, this second direction being substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction and the second section air passageways P2 each being in one or more second sub-planes that are substantially parallel to the first plane, (3) a third exterior section formed by the top sheet 18 a that covers the first section, and (4) a fourth exterior section formed by the bottom sheet 18 b that covers the second section. The first section may have a height of from about 1 to about 10 inches, which may be equal to the thickness of the sheet 18 a, and the second section may have a height of from about 1 to about 10 inches, which may be equal to the thickness of the sheet 18 b.

FIGS. 7 and 8

Another mattress of this invention using the core C2 is depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8. The principal difference between the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6 and that shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is the core C2 having opposed sides S3 and S4 (FIG. 7). In essentially the same manner as depicted in mattress 10, this core C2 is surrounded by the frame 20 (not shown for clarity) and its opposed sides S3 and S4 are covered, respectively, by the sheets 18 a and 18 b (not shown for clarity).

As best shown in FIG. 7, the core C2 includes a plurality of foam layers 102, 103, and 104 stacked upon each other. As depicted in FIG. 8, the underside of the layer 102 has parallel, substantially U-shaped spaced apart grooves 102 a therein; the topside of the layer 103 has parallel, substantially U-shaped spaced apart grooves 103 a therein; and the topside of the layer 104 has parallel, substantially U-shaped spaced apart grooves 104 a therein. The layers 102-104 are assembled so that the grooves 102 a and 104 a are at a right angle with respect to the grooves 103 a. This forms the air passageways P4 ₁ and P4 ₂ in upper and lower levels or sections U and L, respectively, with the air passageways P3 between the air passageways P4 ₁ and P4 ₂. The air passageways P3 are substantially parallel, extend in a first direction, and lie in the substantially same plane. The air passageways P4 ₁ and P4 ₂ are in different, substantially parallel planes but extend in the same direction, and are substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction of the passageways P3. The plane of the passageways P3 is substantially parallel to the planes in which the air passageways P4 ₁ and P4 ₂ lie. Because the open sides 102 b of the grooves 102 a and the open sides 103 b of the grooves 103 a overlap and face each other, there is direct fluid communication between the air passageways P4 ₁ and P3 so that air may flow between these passageways. In this embodiment, the use connecting air passageways P5 are eliminated because these open sides 102 b and 103 b are in direct fluid communication.

Operation

In both embodiments, a user, lying on a horizontally oriented mattress of this invention, compresses the foam materials forming the mattress to force air along the passageways P1, P2, and P5, or P3 and P4, as the case may be, out the passageway ends E1 and E2 through the foam material forming the perimeter member PM. When the user arises, the mattress decompresses and air is drawn through the foam material forming the perimeter member PM to expand the mattress and fill with air the passageways P1, P2, and P5, or P3 and P4, as the case may be.

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

The above presents a description of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the present invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use this invention. This invention is, however, susceptible to modifications and alternate constructions from that discussed above which are fully equivalent. Consequently, it is not the intention to limit this invention to the particular embodiments disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications and alternate constructions coming within the spirit and scope of the invention as generally expressed by the following claims, which particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter of the invention: 

1. A mattress comprising a plurality of foam layers stacked upon each other, one of said layers having a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a first direction, and another of said layers having a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a second direction that is substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction.
 2. The mattress of claim 1 including at least one connecting air passageway placing at least one of the air passageways in the one layer with at least one of the air passageways in the other layer.
 3. The mattress of claim 1 where one of the layers includes a side having therein a plurality of parallel grooves therein open at said side to form the air passageways extending in the first direction, and another of the layers includes a side having therein a plurality of parallel grooves therein open at said side to form air passageways extending in the second direction, the sides of each said layers facing each other so there is direct fluid communication between the air passageways extending in the first direction and the air passageways extending in the second direction.
 4. A mattress comprising a foam core having therein a plurality of air passageways extending in a first direction at first level within the core, and a plurality of air passageways extending in a second direction different than the first direction at a second level within the core that is beneath the first level, at least one of the air passageways in the first level being in fluid communication with at least one of the air passageways in the second level.
 5. A foam mattress comprising a first section with a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a first direction, and a second section beneath the first section with a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a second direction that is substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction.
 6. The mattress of claim 5 including at least one connecting air passageway placing at least one of the air passageways in the first section with at least one of the air passageways in the second section.
 7. The mattress of claim 5 where the first section air passageways are in a first plane and said second section air passageways are in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the first plane,
 8. A mattress made substantially entirely of foam and comprising a body member including a first section with a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, said first section air passageways being a first plane, a second section beneath the first section with a plurality of parallel air passageways therein extending in a second substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, said second direction being substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction and said second section air passageways being a second plane that is substantially parallel to the first plane, said air passageways terminating in opposed ends, said body member having a substantially rectangular shaped perimeter formed of foam members having a predetermined thickness substantially from 1 to 6 inches, said foam members encompassing the first and second sections and covering the ends of the air passageways, and a third exterior section forming a first side of the mattress covering the first section and a fourth exterior section forming a second side of the mattress covering the second section, said third and fourth sections each having a predetermined thickness substantially from 1 to 10 inches, said third and fourth sections each providing an exterior surface, one of which a user lies upon when the mattress is horizontally oriented to thereby compress the mattress and force air from the passageways and out the passageway ends through the perimeter foam members.
 9. The mattress of claim 8 including at least one connecting air passageway placing at least one of the air passageways in the one layer with at least one of the air passageways in the other layer.
 10. The mattress of claim 9 where the mattress has a height of from 3 to 20 inches, the first section has a height substantially from 1 to 10 inches, and the second section has a height substantially from 1 to 10 inches.
 11. A mattress having opposed sides, a predetermined width and a predetermined length and comprising an internal foam core including one level having therein in a first plane a plurality of parallel air passageways extending substantially along the entire width of the mattress in a first substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented, and another level having therein in a second plane that is substantially parallel to the first plane a plurality of parallel air passageways extending substantially along the entire length of the mattress in a second substantially horizontal direction with the mattress horizontally oriented that is substantially at 90° with respect to the first direction.
 12. The mattress of claim 11 where the air passageways terminated in opposed open ends at a perimeter of the core.
 13. The mattress of claim 12 including foam members along the perimeter covering the open ends of the passageways.
 14. The mattress of claim 13 including at least one connecting air passageway placing in communication at least one of the air passageways in the one level with at least one of the air passageways in the other level, so that upon a user lying on the mattress when said mattress is horizontally oriented thereby compresses the mattress to force air from the passageways and out the passageway ends through the perimeter foam members. 